FOOTBALL

Sylvania holds off Sardis 21-12 in opener

Greg Bailey Times Managing Editor

SARDIS CITY — Early mistakes proved costly to Sardis on Friday as the Lions fell behind Sylvania in their high school football season opener.

However, they fought back and had a chance to tie the score inside the last two minutes before a late Sylvania touchdown preserved the Rams’ 21-12 victory.

Gareth Anderson’s second touchdown of the game, on a 12-yard run with 4:28 left in the third quarter, put Sylvania on top 14-0. But after a short punt — and aided by a 15-yard facemask penalty against the Rams — Sardis went 49 yards in six plays with Derek Edwards scoring on a 5-yard run with 2:32 left in the game to cut the score to 14-6; the PAT was no good.

The Lions’ defense smothered Sylvania and another short punt put them at the Rams’ 29-yard line, but they were stopped at the 4 on a fourth-down play.

Sardis went 86 yards in 10 plays, capped by Jay Owens’ 29-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Hopper with 1:37 left. However, a two-point pass from Owens to Harper failed to connect, the Lions’ onsides kick was unsuccessful and Levi Anderson ultimately administered the coup de grace with a 1-yard toucdown run with 37.9 seconds left.

Gareth Anderson’s 68-yard run for Sylvania with 5:25 remaining in the second quarter was the only first-half touchdown. It came two plays after an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Sardis that negated a third-down stop of the Rams on their 12. Sardis also fumbled the ball away deep in Sylvania territory in the first and fourth quarters, and had two other first-half threats — one after Luke Morris returned the kickoff 70 yards following the Rams’ score — spoiled by penalties.

“I told the kids at halftime that we still had a chance to win,” Lions coach Gene Hill said, “because we were only down 7-0 as bad as we played and with all the mistakes we’d made.”

Key Play

The second-quarter penalty that kept Sylvania’s scoring drive going was a killer. Rams’ quarterback Brody Smith had just thrown an incomplete pass on third-and-9. “They should’ve been punting the ball,” Hill said.

Stat Sheet

Sardis finished with 311 yards (203 rushing, 108 passing) to Sylvania’s 278 (218 rushing, 60 passing). Morris had 20 carries for 118 yards and Owens 12 for 72 yards to lead the Lions; he also was 11-of-19 passing. Gareth Anderson had 12 carries for 111 yards and Levi Anderson 15 for 105 for the Rams.

By the Numbers

15 — The number of Sylvania victories in the series (to Sardis’ 13); 2008 — Sardis’ 12 points were the fewest for the Lions against Sylvania since a 28-3 loss that year.

Coachspeak

Hill: “Sylvania had a good plan and they played hard and played together. At the end of the game we played a little looser and gave the kind of effort you need to win. There’s not anything good about a loss, but at least it wasn’t a region game. We’ve got to regroup and get better.”

Sylvania’s Matt Putnam: “It was a sloppy win, but I’ll take a sloppy win over a clean loss defeat anytime. Coach Hill always has his team ready. They never quit fighting and it’s always a tough game between us. We only have five seniors, so we’re still a young team, and I’m happy to see us growing up and learning how to win.”

Next Up

Sardis visits Southside for its Class 5A, Region 6 opener. Sylvania hosts Susan Moore for its Class 3A, Region 7 opener.